The government is responsible for the lukewarm international support

Statements by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A. Kyprianou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 15 May 2019, Nicosia

I wish to express my regret that, over the past few days, the government, in a targeted and distortive way, is attempting to shift its own responsibilities on AKEL. For that reason, I will again state that AKEL isn’t the “evil demon”. The “evil demons” with regards both the Cyprus problem and the economy are the government ruling forces themselves. And that’s precisely where they have to focus their attention on.

We await to see what conclusions the government will draw from the British Minister for Europe Sir Alan Duncan’s statements and from a further reading it must make of the US State Department’s statement.

For sure Turkey is engaging in illegal actions in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus and its stand and aggressive actions are unacceptable.

The statements that have been made by the US State Department, but also by Mr. Duncan regarding the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus are unacceptable. The issue is something else. Is AKEL responsible because the international community wasn’t convinced by the government’s arguments about the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in the EEZ?

Does one believe that the international community listens to AKEL before expressing its position in the way it is expressed? Was the UN Secretary General persuaded by us to record in his report about what happened at Crans Montana when he was referring to specific facts?

The government must therefore reflect on why its narrative isn’t convincing, and why what it was claiming that it had ensured the shielding of the Cypriot EEZ isn’t true when Turkey’s provocative actions today are at their peak.

I also want to say something about DIKO President Nicholas Papadopoulos, who says that the policy followed by Mr. Christofias and DISY has collapsed. What has in fact collapsed is N. Anastasiades’ stand, who has adopted DIKO’s policy over the past two years, and unfortunately this policy has proven unable to address the numerous dangers that exist in our EEZ.

I will reiterate that our own proposal is that if we really want to move away from the problems that exist, we must take initiatives to create the preconditions that will permit the resumption of meaningful negotiations on the Cyprus problem on the correct basis, which must be preceded by the termination of Turkey’s provocative actions. This is the only way we can solve the Cyprus problem and create conditions for peace and stability on our island.

Our appeal therefore to the President of the Republic is that he must assume his responsibilities, end the adoption of the tactics proposed by all the other parties starting with DIKO, EDEK and all the other political parties, and take such initiatives that will truly serve the interests of Cyprus and the Cypriot people.

You on the one hand indirectly criticize the government’s policy on the EEZ, while talking however about Turkey’s evident illegal actions, at the same time as the UN, the State Department and the UK Foreign Minister are talking about a ‘disputed’ EEZ claimed by the Republic of Cyprus. Doesn’t this mean that Turkey’s action isn’t so visibly illegal? What is your reading of the reactions of the international community?

The first thing I want to say is that Turkey’s actions are illegal. For us, this is absolutely clear.

From there onwards, our government must reflect on developments, which two years ago was telling us when AKEL was warning about the dangers of such aggressive actions by Turkey, that the cooperations and contacts made by the government have ensured the shielding of the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone. We see that this hasn’t happened. And the government will have to answer and reflect on what went wrong in everything it did. Beyond that, we are very worried about the lukewarm reactions of the international community. This is the reason why we say to the government that it must reflect and instead of wasting its time in sloganeering and engaging in big talk, that it should see what it does in practice to counter Turkey’s aggressive actions.

I will repeat, the only way forward in our view is to take initiatives on the substance of the Cyprus problem, while simultaneously demanding an end to Turkey’s provocative actions. Only in this way, in our view, will Turkey be put in the corner and we will gain a lead with regards the international community’s stand.

So for you the UK Foreign Office’s statement that it supports the exercise of the sovereign rights by the Republic of Cyprus within the agreed EEZ is clear because we hear from many people that it is ambiguous…

No, I think their position is clear and it is negative for us. We mustn’t be under any illusions. The government must reflect on why the international community has expressed its position in this way. We aren’t just referring to Britain, but also the State Department, the United Nation’s statement that was very lukewarm.

Therefore instead of the government seeking to assign responsibility on AKEL for all that is being said it itself must reflect on why such statements are being made by these important forces on the international political scene.